New laws set to take effect Wednesday

Monday

Jul 30, 2012 at 10:25 AM

BATON ROUGE — Dozens of new state laws are scheduled to go into effect Wednesday.

Jeremy AlfordCapitol Correspondent

BATON ROUGE — Dozens of new state laws are scheduled to go into effect Wednesday.The laws — dealing with a diverse array of issues including sex offenders, seafood and schools — were approved by the Legislature during a session that ended last month.Senate Bill 158 by Sen. J.P. Morrell, D-New Orleans, provides that no employee can be “discharged, demoted, suspended, threatened, harassed or discriminated against” as a result of reporting sexual abuse of a minor child by any fellow employee to law enforcement. It’s a new whistleblower-protection law, inspired partly by the sex-abuse scandal at Penn State University. There’s also Senate Bill 377 by Sen. Gary Smith, D-Norco, which will force sex offenders to “immediately update” changes to their online identifier information.Currently, sex offenders must give their screen names and email handles to law-enforcement agencies, in addition to the their addresses, vehicle license-plate numbers and other information.While this kind of disclosure is supposed to be periodically renewed, the current law does not require the online identifiers to be updated immediately.In an electronic medium where an email address can be created in minutes, Smith said the changes are needed now more than ever. Gov. Bobby Jindal included the legislation in his official package because it was recommended by the U.S. Department of Justice.Beginning Wednesday, certain officials with the state Department of Insurance will have the authority to view expunged arrest records under certain cases.Sen. Troy Brown, D-Napoleonville, said Senate Bill 213 is needed so the department can double-check information presented by those seeking an insurance license. “This would allow the department to deny licenses based on whether it has been expunged or not,” Brown said.Warren Byrd, the department’s executive counsel, said the authority would only be used to make sure license applicants are telling the truth. A number of agencies, such as those supporting law enforcement and criminal justice, already have this authority. Thanks to Senate Bill 224 by Sen. Neil Riser, R-Columbia, hunters and fishermen will only need to carry around their drivers licenses to prove they’ve paid certain fees to harvest from the state’s woods and waters. The new law alters drivers licenses in a way that shows an individual has purchased a lifetime hunting or fishing license, as well as passed firearm and hunter education, as well as boating safety education. Smith’s Senate Bill 234 creates another new licensing process for bouncers and other security personnel who work in bars and restaurants. It’s basically an update to the Louisiana Responsible Vendor Program.Currently, bartenders who are licensed under the program undergo training to help them identify and handle situations where customers are drinking too much or becoming a danger to themselves, among other things.Bouncers and other security personnel will be required to undergo similar training, or tailored to their own positions.Smith said he was partly inspired by the recent rash of cases involving physical violence in New Orleans bars. Then there are a number of laws that govern what transpires on Louisiana’s roads and highways. Like Senate Bill 138 by Sen. Brett Allain, R-Franklin, which will allow sugar cane haulers to use their two-axle permits while operating three-axle trailers during business emergencies only, such as a two axle-trailer giving out during grinding season. Smith’s Senate Bill 376, meanwhile, will give State Police 60 total days to investigate accidents involving the transportation of hazardous waste.Smith said the current 30-day window doesn’t give State Police enough time to properly investigate — and then they’re forced to issue a violation regardless of their progress.Senate Bill 594 by Brown will allow public school boards to provide transportation services for students attending technical and vocational colleges beginning Wednesday.Parishes that have populations greater than 300,000 or already provide some kind of transportation to college-level students would be exempt. Otherwise, it’s a voluntary program.Full-time students 20 or younger would be eligible and would have to pay a fee. The legislation defers to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education on establishing that fee.Another law coming on the books will require drilling companies in certain cases to notify landowners before the commence with operations. Allain’s Senate Bill 525 would require any operator looking to explore or test to notify any landowners who would be “affected by the well” at least 30 days before they begin drilling.If the drilling company already has a mineral lease with the landowner who would impact, or a surface use agreement, the notice wouldn’t be necessary under the new law.“Landowners have the right to know what’s going on before the oil company goes on and disturbs the property,” Allain said. He said he came up with the idea for the bill from personal experiences — in addition to being a farmer, Allain is a landowner who receives income from energy production.Finally, several new laws will be applied to commercial and recreational fishing.Senate Bill 468, also by Allain, will allow king or Spanish mackerel to be used for bait while a recreational fisherman is aboard a boat just as long as the carcass is maintained intact with head and tail.Tuna with minimum size restrictions will be treated in the same manner. As for swordfish, the new law states that a recreational fisherman would not be allowed to skin it until its put onshore.Plus, it will allows the head and caudal fin of garfish caught in saltwater to be removed, as long as a strip of skin is retained.Senate Bill 733 by Sen. Norby Chabert, R-Houma, would significantly alter the shape and scope of the Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board.Under current law, the 16 members of the board serve four-year terms that run concurrent with the governor's term and they are allowed to be reappointed. Chabert’s law, which takes effect in roughly 48 hours, would end all of their terms Dec. 31 and it charges the governor with reappointing a new 14-member board in the New Year. The initial appointments next year would be divided into staggered terms of one, two and three years. The bill then calls for their replacements to begin serving the standard three-year term. Such a system would allow for annual appointments.In addition to fresh faces, Chabert said his bill would put in place a refined leadership structure where a chairman and two vice chairs would be elected to form a line of succession.Chabert also said his legislation replaces a call for nominations from specific seafood industries with nominations from industry task forces or associations. Of the 14 members detailed in the bill, only one — the designee of the secretary of the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries — would be non-voting. Among the remaining seats, the governor will be able to four from the marketing, crawfish, seafood processing and saltwater finfish industries in general. But the governor would also have to select appointees based on recommendations from various seafood-industry groups.Chabert said the shrimp and oyster industries are afforded more seats on the board because their members pay more into the board’s operating budget than any other. For the most part, the board gets its money from fees that industries have imposed on themselves.

Capitol Correspondent Jeremy Alford can be reached at jeremy@jeremyalford.com.

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